Multiple conductor electric wiring unit



March 9, 1943. J. F. o'BRlEN MULTIPLE CONDUCTOR ELECTRIC WIRING UNIT Filed Sept. l0, 1940 Patented Mar. 9, 1943 MUL'rirLE'coNnUcron ELECTRIC WIRING UNIT Joseph F. OBrien, Jersey City, N. J., assignor. to John B. Pierce Foundation, New York, N. Y., a

corporation ot New York j Application September 10, 1940, Serial No. 356,153

1 Claim. (Cl. 173-3341) This inventionvrelates to improved wiring systems. In particular, the invention relates to awlringu system comprising standardized conductor units means providing continuously live circuit status or switch-controlled status and in an electric wiring system embodying a plurality of interconnected conductor units, the outlets 'of 4such wiring system may be, `alternately, -fontinuously arranged for seriatim mechanical and electrical 5 live or switch-controlled. interconnection, one or more of said intercon- Other features and advantages will herein-' nected units having a plurality of electrical outafter appeali let means affording, optionally, connection with In the accompanying drawing: i, a continuously alive electrical circuit or on `Fig- 1 iS a rear View of an electrical conductor which is switch-controlled. l unit embodying,` the present invention, the rear It is an object of the invention to lprovide an cover plate of said unit having been eliminated, electrical conductor unit embodying a plurality to reveal a suitable arrangement of conductors of electricity conductors, pairs of said plurality therein; of conductors within said unit being so related Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of an electrical as to afford either a. switch controlled or conl5 conductor unit teken 0n lines 2-2 ci Figl, tinuously live electrical status, showing one arrangement of outlet connections; It ls an object of the invention to provide an Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of an electrical electricity conductor unit. having a plurality cf conductor unit tekenen lines 3-3 of Fig. 1. electric outlet means, said plurality of electric showing asecond arrangement of outletl oonoutlet means being so arranged as to afford connections; nectlon of. an electric fixture, optionally, to a Fig. 4 iS an elevation of a Spacer member for continuously live electric circuit or to a circuit the conductors 0f a uInt; and which is under the control of a local switch. Fig. 51S a Schematic representation of the elec- An electrical Wiring system embodying the tricity conductors of three interconnected c'onpresent invention is characterized by interconductcl' Units. Showing the relationship of Said nected conductor-carrying units having three conductors, the outlet contact means thereof, and conductors, two of the conductors of such units the electrical System of a building in Which the connecting directly to the live and return wires units are Placed- Y of a conventional two wire electric power source Referring first to Fig. 5, a Conventional two and hence being in continuously live status, and wire wiring system includes a hot wire A and a l a third conductor of the unit being connected to retuln Wire B- Electrically interconnected With the return wire of the power source through the Seidhot Wire A are the conductors (1, a. a 0f a agency of an intermediate switch, whereby said plurality 0f electricity condllctorllnlts embodythird conductor may be wholly disconnected from lng the present invention; electrically connected said powersouroe, 35 with return wire B, and mutually electrically The electric units forming the instant inveninterconnected, are the conductors b, l?. b, of Said tion are providedrvwith electrical outlet means; ntelccnnected unitsl one of the contacts of the outlet means is in A third wire C of the electrical feed circuit is electrical contact with one of the continuously electrically interconnected, through the agency live conductors. The remaining conductors 40 of a Switch D, to the return wire B of the Prinwitiin the unit are provided, alternately, with cipal circuit; a third conductor c of each o f the electrical contact means operatively associated tric 0f conductor carrying Units iS electrically with the `contact, .means of the first mentioned interconnected, and the conductor c of the first conductor ond'orranged in conformity with the unit is electrically connected to said wire C of the standard spacing of the blades of a conventional electrical circuity l attachment plug.v It follows, therefore, lthat an electrical attach- Preferably, the conductor units embodying the ment electrically connected across the conductors t present invention are made in sixteen inch a, b, of any of the units will be in electrical aslengths, to facilitate the attaching of the units sociation with the continuously energized hot and to wall studding spaced sixteen inches on cenreturn wires A, B, ofthe electrical wiring system. ters. 'Within such sixteen inch length, two out- Pursuant to this arrangement, an electrical aclets are provided, and it is apparent, therefore, cessory oi the natureof an electric clock or other that by suitable arrangement of the conductors device intended for continuous operat1on may be within the unit, a wiring unit may have outlet so connected.

It follows, also, that an electrical attachment electrically connected across the conductors a, c, will be in live status only when the switch D is closed, for it is apparent that said conductors c are electrically connected to the return wire B of the electric system only in the circumstance of the closure ofswitch D. Accordingly, an electrical accessory such as a floor lamp or the like may be connected across conductors a, c, and may be controlled in its instants of operation by a switch D, which may be placed convenient to an entrance of a room in which the electrical circuit tures Il, suitably spaced and sized according to' the standardized spacing and size of the blades of an electrical attachment plug. The said body is substantially hollow; transverse end wall means I4, l5 are so arranged as to denne a male end I6 and a female socket I1, whereby contiguous units may be serially interconnected. A side wall i8 and an innerlongitudinal wall IS cooperate with walls 20 to form insulating pockets within which the electrical contact members 2i, :2l are insulatedlyhoused in registry with the stated apertures il, Il. f

Wall I9 and side wall Il' form, see Fig. 2, a relatively narrow longitudinal chamber substantially coextensive with the unit, within which chamber conductors of the samec'polarity are housed, as later described. Transverse 4walls 22 provide insulating 'pockets accommodating conductor spacers 23, see Fig. 4, of electrical insulation material.

The respective conductors a, b, c, are suitably arranged within the body of the units in Asuch manner that they present, at each `end of the units, a standard arrangement whereby each of the respective conductors of each interconnected unit are in mutual registry. Most preferably, the

stated conductors a, b, c, are tubular, whereby electrical interconnection of the respective conductors of adjacent units may be effected by metallic pins inserted into the ends of contiguous conductors and in frictional engagement therewith.

According to one manner of arrangement of such conductors at the ends of the units, conductors a and c are disposed adjacent the base or inside portion of the unit, as shownin Fig. 2,

whereas conductor b is disposed forwardly ofI conductor c, as shown in Fig. 3. To maintain the conductors in such preferred alignment, the end walls il, I5 of the units are suitably notched to receive the said conductors. Similarly, the intermediate transverse walls 22 are notched in registry with the notches of the transverse walls i4, l5, insofar as respects the conductors b and c, which 'are of the same polarity and arranged within the said longitudinal chamber. Conductor spacer members 23 are provided with notches 24, 25, conforming to the notches of the transverse walls 22. When said spacers 23 are inserted into the pockets formed by the walls 22, the open ended notch 25 cooperates with 'the deep notch of said transverse wall to form a circular aperture through which conductor b passes,

and notch forms an aperture through which conductor c passes. A base plate 26 of ber 0r the like is arranged to be secured to the body i0,

, as vby the illustrated machine screws which may project into suitably tapped bosses 2,1 formed in the body I0. The base plate serves to confine the spacers 23 and to hold the conductors a, b, c, in position.

It is noted from Figs. 1 through 3 that conductors b and c may be brought alternately into juxtaposition with conductor a, and, therefore, a contact 2| associated with said conductors b and c is arranged in operative association with the contact 2| of conductor a. To bring the stated conductor b and conductor c into desired association with conductor a at the base of the conductor units, thus to provide a depth of contact 2| suitable for use with the blades of an attachment plug, the stated conductors are offset. As illustrated in Fig. 2, conductor b is brought angularly downwardly to a position adjacent the base member 26,` then is returned to its normal position within the body whence it continues Without further oiset throughout thc Abody of the unit. Likewise, conductor c is offset -at the other of the outlet connection zones to be brought into suitable adjacency with conductor a.

From the foregoing it appears that of the two provisions for outlet connections in a unit, one of the outlet connections provides for continuously alive electric circuit, whereas the second of the outlet means is so electrically connected as to render it possible to control flow of electric current thereto by operation of an electric switch arranged remote from lthe stated conductor unit.

Whereas I have described my invention by reference to specific forms thereof, it will be un derstood that many changes and modifications I claim:

As a new article of manufacture, an electricity conductor unit having three electricity conductors, two conductors of which are arranged for connection to one wire of a two-pole electric circuit. and a third conductor arranged for connection to a second wire of said circuit; said con'- ductor unit comprising a substantially hollow housing. a face of said housing having a plurality of pairs of openings adapted to receive the blades of a two-blade electrical attachment plug, said pairs of openings being remote from each other but in mutual alignment; a wall extending longitudinally within said housing and forming a chamber which is remote from said pairs of openings; the two conductors for connection to the first-named wire of the circuit being disposed within said chamber and extending substantially continuously therein, each of said two conductors being oiset for a fraction of its lengthto be brought adjacent an opening of one of said pairs of openings. and each said conductor having contact means in registry with the respective opening; and the third conductor extending longitudinally within said housing remote from said chamber and having contact means in registry with the remaining opening of each' of said pairs of openings, whereby each of the two commonconnected conductors individually cooperates with the third conductor at one of the pairs of openings to provide two distinct-twopole tapping points.

JOSEPH F. O'BRIEN. 

